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Carrigmore Castle #2
Tiffany and the Swallow Rhyme
Tiffany is a very special cat with a knowledge of magic and a superior feline commonsense as anybody who has read Carrigmore Castle will tell you. And the Swallow Rhyme? That is the clue to the riddle of the curious 'Birdman' and the strange business that the children find going on at the new reservoir.
Illustrated by Richard Kennedy.
Illustrated by Richard Kennedy.
182 pages, Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1956
6 people want to read
About the author
Meta Mayne Reid
41 books5 followersMeta Mayne Reid (1905–1991) was a Northern Irish children's writer.
Meta Mayne Reid was born to Marcus and Elvina Hopkins in Woodlesford, Yorkshire in 1905 and grew up there although her family was from Ulster in Ireland. She had one sister, Audrey. She was educated at home through governesses before going to Leeds Girls' High School. Mayne Reid went on to attend Manchester University. Later she moved to Crawfordsburn in County Down when her parents returned to the north of Ireland and there she was married to Dr E. Mayne Reid.
It was in Ulster that she set most of her novels, both historical fiction and modern settings with a fantasy side. She wrote more than twenty children's novels as well as two novels for adults and one collection of poetry. Reid was involved with the Belfast chapter of PEN as both secretary and, from 1970 to 1972, president.
Meta Mayne Reid was born to Marcus and Elvina Hopkins in Woodlesford, Yorkshire in 1905 and grew up there although her family was from Ulster in Ireland. She had one sister, Audrey. She was educated at home through governesses before going to Leeds Girls' High School. Mayne Reid went on to attend Manchester University. Later she moved to Crawfordsburn in County Down when her parents returned to the north of Ireland and there she was married to Dr E. Mayne Reid.
It was in Ulster that she set most of her novels, both historical fiction and modern settings with a fantasy side. She wrote more than twenty children's novels as well as two novels for adults and one collection of poetry. Reid was involved with the Belfast chapter of PEN as both secretary and, from 1970 to 1972, president.
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February 22, 2023
The Carrigmore Castle Series - correct sequence:
1. Carrigmore Castle - 1954
2. Tiffany and the Swallow Rhyme - 1956
3. The Cuckoo at Coolnean - 1956
4. Strangers in Carrigmore - 1958
5. The Tobermillin Oracle - 1962
Unfortunately, I read The Cuckoo at Coolnean out of sequence (following Carrigmore Castle), and so there was a, erm, discrepancy from the outset (more would be a spoiler, but seeing as it'll be fairly self-evident to a mature reader anyway, here it is: )
Colly, Kay and Charlotte have all been promised a three-week holiday up in the Glens of Antrim with Colly and Kay's father (their mother has been told by the doctor that she must stay home to rest, and so is sadly out of play). They're to stay with family friend Mrs. Adair, and are looking forward to watching the new reservoir being constructed there. This is all a very big deal, because Mr. McKean is a farmer and almost never gets a vacation. Fortunately, he's found a neighbour who will be able to manage for him. It's a pity that Mrs. McKean must stay at home, but nevertheless, they're all looking forward to it.
Then the accident, right out of the blue and all over the page. Aha. So Jack McConnell is out with several broken bones, and just like that the holiday at Knockban is called off. Or is it? And naturally Tiffany's got her paw in this somehow, of course.
Our three protagonists are now riding the bus, alone (plus a certain fuzzy stowaway/trafficked animal in a knapsack), to stay with Mrs. Adair at Knockban near "Ballykeep" (=Ballycastle) and "Raghery Island" (=Rathlin Island, I think).
It's an interesting little tale - lots going on, as ever - and each of the children has their own key scenes. There's a circus, a storm, a night spent at sea (by one of them, by accident), some violence against animals (hares in snares), and some very strange human characters. And, of course, the reservoir - honestly, if I hadn't just recently read The Walking Stones by Mollie Hunter this past year, I'd have trouble believing that the opening of the sluice gates to fill a new reservoir was such a grand event with dignitaries and bands and the like! (Can you imagine a duller event? It's like having friends 'round for drinks while you slowly fill the bathtub!). Ah well. These were the pre-internet and home theatre/VCR-days after all.
It's a bit dated, but of course that's part of the charm - one of the characters is still struggling with the loss of his family during the Blitz in Belfast (1941), and the children seem to put up with quite a lot of, to my mind, completely unwarranted and unnecessary abuse by random adults on the bus who seem to be of the opinion that children are as intolerable on public transport as plague rats. Also, the circus... it was nice to read that Mrs. Adair and peers were already snubbing it due to animal-welfare concerns (some things should be allowed to fade into extinction: bull fights, Roman gladiator warfare in Coliseums, clowns..) And the description of the smell of the circus: oranges, black bananas, too many hot and sweaty people packed into a tent too closely, animal dung and sweat.. hmm. Greasy black bananas in a hot circus tent. I'll pass for that reason, too, but of course I cannot abide caged tigers...
There are interesting scenes obliquely confronting social issues other than just animal welfare or cruelty: poverty, classism, wildlife conservation, mental health and bereavement, vegetarianism, euthanasia, animal rehabilitation and captivity, and the very grey area of a senior's right to independent living versus being forced into care.
I wish I had read this in the proper sequence, but in the end it didn't matter; each installment has been surprising and unique and completely magical, with a sprinkling of obscure Irish terms I enjoy having to look up (this time: cleg = horse fly, though this might be a term used more widely than just N. Ireland for all I know. And the tiny biting midges - in Ontario they're 'black flies', but one only has to vacation in Scotland once to know them forever! Horrid little things!)
1. Carrigmore Castle - 1954
2. Tiffany and the Swallow Rhyme - 1956
3. The Cuckoo at Coolnean - 1956
4. Strangers in Carrigmore - 1958
5. The Tobermillin Oracle - 1962
Unfortunately, I read The Cuckoo at Coolnean out of sequence (following Carrigmore Castle), and so there was a, erm, discrepancy from the outset (more would be a spoiler, but seeing as it'll be fairly self-evident to a mature reader anyway, here it is: )
Colly, Kay and Charlotte have all been promised a three-week holiday up in the Glens of Antrim with Colly and Kay's father (their mother has been told by the doctor that she must stay home to rest, and so is sadly out of play). They're to stay with family friend Mrs. Adair, and are looking forward to watching the new reservoir being constructed there. This is all a very big deal, because Mr. McKean is a farmer and almost never gets a vacation. Fortunately, he's found a neighbour who will be able to manage for him. It's a pity that Mrs. McKean must stay at home, but nevertheless, they're all looking forward to it.
Then the accident, right out of the blue and all over the page. Aha. So Jack McConnell is out with several broken bones, and just like that the holiday at Knockban is called off. Or is it? And naturally Tiffany's got her paw in this somehow, of course.
On a misty moisty morning when doubtful was the weather,
I heard the summer swallows twittering together:
'Some stay at home but some go north over moor and heather,
And there they meet a stranger clothed all in leather
Going over bogland where waters run together.
Fur will aid and fur will fly, and so will swallow's feather.'
On a misty moisty morning, when doubtful was the weather,
I heard the summer swallows twittering together:
'Some . . . '
Our three protagonists are now riding the bus, alone (plus a certain fuzzy stowaway/trafficked animal in a knapsack), to stay with Mrs. Adair at Knockban near "Ballykeep" (=Ballycastle) and "Raghery Island" (=Rathlin Island, I think).
It's an interesting little tale - lots going on, as ever - and each of the children has their own key scenes. There's a circus, a storm, a night spent at sea (by one of them, by accident), some violence against animals (hares in snares), and some very strange human characters. And, of course, the reservoir - honestly, if I hadn't just recently read The Walking Stones by Mollie Hunter this past year, I'd have trouble believing that the opening of the sluice gates to fill a new reservoir was such a grand event with dignitaries and bands and the like! (Can you imagine a duller event? It's like having friends 'round for drinks while you slowly fill the bathtub!). Ah well. These were the pre-internet and home theatre/VCR-days after all.
It's a bit dated, but of course that's part of the charm - one of the characters is still struggling with the loss of his family during the Blitz in Belfast (1941), and the children seem to put up with quite a lot of, to my mind, completely unwarranted and unnecessary abuse by random adults on the bus who seem to be of the opinion that children are as intolerable on public transport as plague rats. Also, the circus... it was nice to read that Mrs. Adair and peers were already snubbing it due to animal-welfare concerns (some things should be allowed to fade into extinction: bull fights, Roman gladiator warfare in Coliseums, clowns..) And the description of the smell of the circus: oranges, black bananas, too many hot and sweaty people packed into a tent too closely, animal dung and sweat.. hmm. Greasy black bananas in a hot circus tent. I'll pass for that reason, too, but of course I cannot abide caged tigers...
There are interesting scenes obliquely confronting social issues other than just animal welfare or cruelty: poverty, classism, wildlife conservation, mental health and bereavement, vegetarianism, euthanasia, animal rehabilitation and captivity, and the very grey area of a senior's right to independent living versus being forced into care.
I wish I had read this in the proper sequence, but in the end it didn't matter; each installment has been surprising and unique and completely magical, with a sprinkling of obscure Irish terms I enjoy having to look up (this time: cleg = horse fly, though this might be a term used more widely than just N. Ireland for all I know. And the tiny biting midges - in Ontario they're 'black flies', but one only has to vacation in Scotland once to know them forever! Horrid little things!)
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